Thanks for all the love from the previous chapter you guys, I'm glad you all enjoyed it. However, I'm sorry to disappoint but I won't write any continuations for the special chapters :( it's not that I want to but Sunset Hue is already a big thing on its own. Although maybe in time, when I finish both of my major fics I'll take up Kingdom of KHR again. A lot of my old characters will surely return there, including Mia because I'm sort of lazy creating new OCs.

But now we're back with out usual program and I can't help but be stoked even though its a Daily Life arc. Why? Well that's my surprise :)

Daily Life Arc: Third and Last Year of Middle School

Disclaimer: I don't own KHR.

What If

Because Mia had handled everything before them, their return to school life had been pretty smooth. They were given a fake trophy by some random guy Reborn managed to snag from the streets and they were back with school work, which for the most part, had been almost ignored for an entire week. Tsuna had wanted to talk with Mia about their first date - the mere idea made him super giddy - but she told him, that under no circumstances would she even consider it until exams were done. Their education mattered, she said. No, I won't kiss you until you pass your Algebra with flying colors, she said.

Only Mia would prioritize education.

The only reason he didn't argue was because she looked so stressed with the overload of work Hibari and Reborn were putting her under. For Reborn, it had something to do with the Kokuyo gang and for Hibari, apparently in exchange for his participation in the Ring Conflict, he demanded she be his formal secretary again and now she was dealing with the damage done to the school like replacing lost things that the students unknowingly lost and precious school records.

It was the first time he had seen her so frazzled and wisely stayed out of her way. The others wanted to help but Tsuna knew she didn't need it (he also thought that they would cause more harm than good). Mia was good with her job - even if he was annoyed at Hibari for overworking his girlfriend.

Girlfriend.

A silly grin worked its way to his face. It was still a little unbelievable that they're a couple now. It made him annoyingly cheery - as Reborn often tells him - but he didn't care.

The only real thing that brought his mood down was Kyoko's avoidance of him. Kyoko hadn't looked him in the eyes since the Conflict ended and she seemed to avoid him at every chance she had. Kurokawa was also a pain in the ass. She treated him like the dirt beneath her shoes which angered Hayato on several occasions. Mia would have been too if she wasn't too busy but Tsuna didn't have to think much - he could take a hint. It probably was his fault.

But what with the exams and everything he couldn't find the time to approach the girl. He decided to bring it up with Mia while they were studying.

"Kyoko?" Mia didn't look up from her notebook. "Might be a family problem."

"I already asked Onii-san but he doesn't know." He stared at his notes. He couldn't focus on studying.

"Maybe she's on her period," Mia suggested. Tsuna made a face. Mia sighed and finally looked up. "If it's bothering you so much why don't you just go to her?" she snapped.

"Are you sure you're not on your period?" he countered. Mia went red and for one moment he was horribly reminded when she stormed away from him last time. Instead, she let out a long sigh that her anger mostly went with.

"Just do what you think is right," she said shortly and began packing her things.

He felt bad. He hadn't meant to snap at her like that. "Mia, I didn't mean to - " She cut him off.

"I'm tired," she muttered. "This was a bad time for me. Sorry Tsuna, but I'll go home first."

"Wait, it's late. I should walk you back." He started getting up but she glared at him.

"No." She said, almost coldly. "I'll be alright but I'd really like to be alone right now."

He was going to protest when he was suddenly felt Reborn's weight on his head. "Go. I'll take care of this," he told her. Mia nodded and without another word, she left. Feeling like he made a mistake, he tried to knock Reborn off his head. The hitman gracefully evaded his hands and landed on the table.

"Reborn! What the hell?" he said angrily.

"I know you've mostly grown out of your stupidity but you're still pretty stupid," the hitman told him bluntly. "And don't argue with me," he warned him when Tsuna was about to argue. "It was tactless of you to mention Kyoko to Mia you idiot." Even though Reborn didn't show it, he was a bit mad.

He fell silent at that. Not because that Reborn was ticked off at him but at his own stupidity. His tutor was right. He was such an idiot. He bit his lip. They may be together now but for the longest time Mia believed he had liked Kyoko. He groaned and slammed his head on the table. "I'm such an idiot!" he cursed.

"Yes Tsuna. Yes you are."

He couldn't even get mad at his tutor. He just groaned again.

"Why did you ask Mia about Kyoko anyway?" Reborn asked him curiously.

"Because she's a girl…" he muttered and curled in on himself when he heard the face palm in his tutor's sigh. "I know I screwed up already! Ugh… how am I supposed to make it up to her?" When Reborn didn't answer him, he looked up. "Reborn?"

Reborn gave him a look. "I'm your tutor, not your pillar of love advice. Go ask Bianchi."

That was more horrifying. "Reborn!"

But the hitman continued to ignore his pleading. Tsuna didn't want to ask Bianchi and slept on it, hoping that the solution would come to him in his sleep. It didn't. He spent most of his morning worrying all the way until school. To his horror, Mia suddenly came out of nowhere and pulled him to a deserted corner. Holy hell, if she broke up with him because of this…

He started to apologize almost immediately. "Mia, I'm really sorry about last night - " She cut him off with a finger to her lips.

"Shut up!" she shushed him and he went quiet. "Look, I'm sorry too but anyway, I managed to convince Kyoko to talk to you." He stared at her, dumbfounded. "She's in this room. You guys have about ten minutes before Hibari inspects this hall."

Before she could leave he grabbed her wrist. "You didn't have to do this for me," he told her.

"Maybe," she mumbled. "But I never held it against her. She's a good person and still your friend. Don't ignore her in favor for me." Despite saying that, she looked worried.

He stared at her, surprised at the level of maturity she was excluding before she got impatient and all but shoved him inside the room. She shut the door sharply behind him and he stumbled, knocking into a table and drawing the attention of the girl waiting for him inside. Kyoko was startled by his sudden arrival and Tsuna sheepishly rubbed his head, all the while cursing Mia for being so straight-forward.

He righted himself and began tugging on his vest. "Um… hey Kyoko-chan," he greeted her awkwardly.

"Tsuna-kun…" They stood there in awkward silence.

He couldn't stand it and spoke first. "Kyoko-chan!" The girl jumped a bit. "Um… I… did-did I do anything wrong?" he asked her.

"Eh?" Kyoko became flustered.

"Well, it's just that you've been avoiding me lately and Kurokawa's acting like I did something wrong so I just… well… wondered if I did anything to offend you."

Kyoko frowned. "Hana-chan," she sighed in exasperation. She shook her head. "Tsuna-kun… it's nothing really." She touched her shoulder and turned away.

Tsuna frowned in worry. "You're lying," he said and stepped closer. "I really did do something. Please tell me. I don't want my friends feeling uncomfortable around me." She stilled and he wondered what he did wrong this time.

"Friend huh?" she said to herself in a murmur. She looked up at him and he waited. Breathing deeply, said to him in a frenzied rush, "Tsuna-kun… I-I l-like you!"

Whatever she was going to say, he didn't expect it to be that. Feeling faint, he steadied himself on the table behind him. His head was spinning. Kyoko liked him? "W-What?" he gasped when he got his bearings.

Kyoko turned pink but she didn't say anything. He realized that she was waiting for an answer to her confession. He swallowed heavily. He hadn't been prepared for this but the answer was plain. "I'm sorry Kyoko-chan," he apologized politely. "But I like someone else."

Kyoko nodded. "I knew that," she said softly. "But I just wanted to tell you. I didn't know when but one day I realized that I liked you." Her small hands tightened around each other.

"I used to like you too," he blurted out suddenly and she looked at him with shock. "I've liked you since our last year in elementary but…" But then he met Mia in the most uncommon of circumstances, triggering a set of events that led where they are now. He wanted to put his feelings into words but he couldn't describe it. How can he put this lightness he feels in his heart into words?

"You fell for Mia-chan instead," Kyoko finished sadly. He blushed but nodded. Kyoko looked pained and she turned away to look outside instead. "It's frustrating," she admitted. "But… I don't blame you for it. I took too long."

He didn't say anything. He did think 'what if' but trying to imagine a life with Kyoko now felt like remembering his dream of becoming a robot. It just didn't feel real to him anymore.

"Ne Tsuna-kun," she suddenly asked him. "If - If by chance, had I confessed sooner… would we have been…?"

Tsuna shook his head and her face fell. Maybe they would have but a large part of him roared in retaliation against that thought. It was too close to betraying Mia. Too close to losing her to someone else. Kyoko sighed.

"I'm sorry for saying something like that," she said. "I-I didn't know what came over me."

"I'm sure that the person you like will appear one day," he tried to encourage her. "You just have to keep an eye out for him."

"Tsuna-kun…" she paused in her words and nodded instead. "You've changed."

He blinked. "Yeah," he laughed a little bit. "I guess I did huh?"

"Because of Mia-chan, right?"

He softened. "Didn't really have much of a choice," he joked. "Mia doesn't tolerate laziness."

They smiled at each other. Even though the awkwardness hadn't been banished entirely, it was comfortable enough for them to stand there in contentment. That was until Tsuna remembered and hurriedly checked his phone. A minute was left until Hibari's supposed inspection.

"Hiieee!" he silently whined. "Hibari-san is coming. We should go now Kyoko-chan!" At the mention of the prefect, the auburn girl hurried after him. Together they left the room and headed to their own classroom.

"Tenth!"

"Tsuna!" Hayato and Takeshi suddenly blocked him, both looking equally worried.

"Guys!" He frowned. "Did something happen?"

Both of them looked nervously at each other. "Guys!" he repeated, a little impatient and a little frightened at their secret looks.

"Um…" Takeshi started anxiously.

"The Lady is in the clinic," Hayato informed him bluntly. Blood drained from his face. Seeing the look on his face, Hayato hastily went on. "But it's not that serious!"

"What. Happened." The two of them winced at his tone.

"Someone thought it was funny to give her a wasabi-filled donut," Takeshi said.

"And you know how she is Tenth. She hates that stuff."

"She got like a real mouthful."

"And now she's throwing up," they both told him at the same time. He stared at his friends then ran a hand through his hair in frustration. Only Mia… He was slightly relieved it wasn't serious.

"I'm going to go check on her. You guys go on ahead." He headed straight to the clinic without waiting for any of them. As soon as he got there, before he could even open the door, it slid open and Mia appeared. He was taken aback by her appearance. Her hair was in disarray, her skin was pasty and her mouth was twisted in deep disgust. They looked at each other and she raised a brow at him, daring him to comment about her appearance.

"I heard you got pranked?" he asked lightly and her expression darkened, a sadistic glint appearing in her eye.

"Yes. Yes I was. But don't worry, I've got this."

A shudder went through him. He knew she was going to carry on with whatever diabolical plan she had in mind but he was glad she was alright. Now he felt sorrier for the poor soul that pranked her. They didn't know that Mia had a lot of ways to get back at them. While she was muttering under her breath, he sought to smooth her hair down. She stopped muttering and just watched him.

"How did it go?" she asked. Underneath all that casualty, he knew she was dying to know. She can be such a kid sometimes - he wanted to pinch her cheeks.

"It went alright," he replied instead. "You don't have to worry about me falling back on Kyoko-chan. We sorted it out." She blushed that he had figured her out so easily. He chuckled warmly and finished fixing her hair. "Jealous much?" he joked. Mia didn't find it funny. She took it seriously and just quietly shook her head.

His faltered slightly. He couldn't tell what she was thinking. That worried him. Noticing this, Mia hurriedly said, "Alright, I give… I'm a little itty bit jealous."

"Oh." He grinned. "I can fix that." He leaned in but Mia blocked him again with her hand.

"Exams, remember?" she reminded him sternly and he groaned.

There was a loud gasp and they turned. Hayato and Takeshi stood there, shock written plainly on their faces. Hayato in particular was pointing at them, speechless, as if he saw an alien. Mia laughed. "Sup."

Tsuna coughed, embarrassed that they were caught. They hadn't told their friends yet. They wanted to keep it a secret a little longer. But this was okay too.

Test of Courage

Mia had milked the information from Hayato and Takeshi about the bet. Reborn wasn't kidding when he said everyone had joined in. The only people who weren't part of it were Kyoko, Haru, Hibari, Chrome and Shamal. Apparently the doctor was pinning for her, to Tsuna's annoyance. To her surprise even Tsuna's mother was in on it though she really shouldn't be. Their affection for one another was obvious - anybody might think that they liked each other.

Anyways, some bet that they probably would have gotten together in senior high, some said that one of them had to be dying before confessing, there were like Reborn, who bet that they would express each other's feelings under the pretense of danger or before the Conflict ended, then there was Bianchi who bet that they would argue so bad, forgiveness could only be sought in a furious passion of love maki - ahem - explosion of their feelings for one another and there was Fuuta and the kids, who made the bet that one of them would confess first to the other.

The winners were Reborn and Fuuta. Fuuta won because he specifically betted that Tsuna would be the first to cave, no matter the circumstances. Mia didn't know how to feel about kids betting on her love life but she definitely needed to have a word with Bianchi about her… uh… inappropriate bet.

But really, she should be mad, like Tsuna but it was just too funny. Even more so when the bet had reached over a million yen. She shook her head and continued on her way to the graveyard where Reborn had planned a little test of courage for them. She had never gone through a test of courage before and it was exciting. Tsuna and the others already went ahead since she had to finish a few things for Hibari but when she arrived, there was no one around.

"You took so long Mia, everyone already started." It was only out of sheer discipline and force of mind that she didn't jump when Reborn showed up. He smirked at her.

"I'm supposed to have a partner right?"

"Unfortunately the number of people was odd and since you're the last person, you don't get a partner."

Well that was daunting. Mia weighed her pros and cons. Should she leave or nah? Nah, she decided and surveyed the area. Graveyards were creepy, that's true but it was nothing in comparison to rotting, mummified remains or a morgue and besides, she always liked a challenge.

"Alright," she agreed.

"Here. To add to the mood, the only lighting is a single candle." He handed her a lighted candle. "There are arrows to guide you so try not to go off course." She nodded. "Since you seem a bit harder to scare than Tsuna, I'll go inform everyone to try and scare you extra hard."

She grinned. Challenge accepted and Reborn whisked off to the night. She waited for a couple of minutes before moving. Japanese graves were fascinating, she thought as she studied the worn but carefully taken cared-of graves. It was interesting how everything fit. The first pairing she encountered was Hayato and I-pin.

They had their back to her. She called to them and had to give them props for startling her when Hayato's faceless head elongated. Instead of being scared, she was more impressed. She stared in appreciation at their props and Hayato sighed in disappointment that they couldn't scare her. She grinned and bid them goodbye as she went on. The next group she encountered was Kyoko, Haru and Bianchi. They ambushed her from behind the graves.

She wondered if they were even trying. Well, Bianchi was good. The woman had crept up behind her while she was distracted with Haru and Kyoko's ridiculous costumes. When she realized that someone was behind her, she reacted without thinking and let a punch fly - she didn't care what or who it was - and had her fist grabbed and arm twisted behind her.

"It was a fight reflex! Sorry!" she apologized profusely to the hitwoman. Bianchi let her go with a sigh, her prosthetic add-ons wriggling disturbingly as she did so.

"You're supposed to be so scared you would run crying for Tsuna." Haru and Kyoko reacted to that while Mia blushed. "It seems I underestimated you."

After that embarrassing moment, Mia hurriedly sped on ahead, not wanting to look at Kyoko or Haru. God, was everyone trying to scare her? Probably. She wouldn't put it past Reborn to have organized it unfairly. The next were Takeshi, Ryohei and Fuuta. Now they were much more of a challenge. A dying soldier of edo, bloodied and injured crawled into her path when it was jumped on by a smaller figure, greedily feeding upon it and sucking what little life remained.

She almost pulled out her gun and started shooting right then and there if she hadn't noticed quite a few little things.

The corpse who was Sasagawa-senpai, had stopped screaming in pain and was now trying hard not to roll around from laughter as Fuuta clutched on tightly to him. She had been truly looking forward to getting scared but was disappointed instead. Takeshi tried to sneak up on her, like Bianchi did but when she turned around, her scowling face lighted by the candlelight, she frightened him instead.

"I was so sure we were going to get you Mia-nee!" Fuuta said. Mia patted his head.

"Eh, you guys almost got me." She shrugged. "Hey, where's Tsuna?"

"Lambo was with him but they passed us when the girls scared them," Takeshi answered. He frowned. "It's been a while. I hope he didn't get lost."

They were regrouping when a bunch of small blue lights came into life. Mia shuddered at the sudden invasion of cold to her senses. She had thought they were will-o-wisps. Her guess was close but they really were souls of the departed. Now that was spooky. Harmless but spooky. They started looking around for Tsuna but Mia chose to stay behind, noting that Bianchi had left her bag of blood and other grisly stuff. A wicked grin spread across her face and she blew her candle out.

Ten minutes later, when they had found a shaky Tsuna and an unconscious Lambo, the group discovered that one of their own had gone missing.

"Eh? Wasn't she just extremely behind us?" Ryohei wondered.

Suddenly Tsuna's phone went off and they all jumped. The young don looked at it, exclaimed, "It's Mia!" and answered it and set it one loudspeaker.

"Hey guys, I'm sorry it took so long. I finally finished! Can't believe the work Hibari puts me through." Everybody fell silent. "Hey guys….? Is it over already? Guys? Is something the matter?" Tsuna slowly lowered his phone, his eyes wide as saucers.

"I thought Mia was here?" he hissed.

"If that's the Lady…." Hayato shook while pointing at the phone. "Then who was the person we've been trying to scare the entire time?!"

Faces white, they were startled when a shrill scream ripped through the entire graveyard. Tsuna accidentally snapped his phone shut. Terror rippled through their bones and they made a mad dash to the exit, only to find a figure clad in dirty-white blocking their way. A shrine priestess. She had her back turned to them but she looked like she had just crawled out of a grave. Her nails were caked with dirt and her hands were stained with blood. Clumps of dead hair were falling off of her head.

"Oh my god…" Tsuna said in a silent, terrified whisper.

The figure began to convulse grotesquely and they stumbled backwards. A whisper, a terrible, terrible whisper began to fill their ears. It was coming from the priestess.

Hateful, hateful, hateful, hateful, hateful, hateful, hateful, hateful…

She continued her manic mantra. Fuuta and the children had taken shelter behind him. She suddenly halted and slowly, like the joints in her neck were rusted, turned her head. Two black gaping holes for eyes were looking at them and a mouth split wide to her ears greeted them. She smiled morbidly at them.

You came. It rasped and they screamed. They screamed so loudly they drowned out Bianchi's yell as they fell on top of each other in their haste to get away.

While they were screaming, the ghost laughed and it sounded alive and very familiar. Throat raw, Tsuna stared at disbelief at the ghost, now doubling in itself in laughter. "Mia?!" he exclaimed. The ghost wiped its face with its sleeve and pulled its rotted wig off. Blonde hair curled down and Mia's wicked grin came into view. Her eyes were bright with mirth when she saw their disheveled state.

"So worth it!"

A Vongola-Style Date

Like Mia promised him, they would go out on a date after their final exams. He had been looking forward to it for so long… but not everything goes according to plan and he was having trouble looking for something suitable to wear. Not a good omen to start things off. He had never had any trouble with clothes… until now. He must have gone through his entire closet. What should he wear? Something a little bit fancy? Nah, it's too hot. That shirt is way too kiddy. Why does most of his stuff have tunas all over it?! His whole casual wear also was mostly compromised of hoodies.

To his despair he also noticed that some of his pants became tighter on him and were shorter.

He was on the edge of panicking when Bianchi came in. She paused at sight of his clothes everywhere. It probably was her first time seeing his room so messy since he usually kept it tidy.

"Can't find something appropriate to wear for your date?" Bianchi asked him. After Takeshi and Hayato found out, they didn't bother hiding it from everyone else. The rest eventually heard and congratulated him. It was an embarrassing affair that he didn't want to remember though his mom made a lot of food for days after that. "My Tsu-kun has a girlfriend!" she proclaimed to the entire neighborhood.

Yup. Best to bury that memory somewhere where it can't be remembered ever again.

But back to the present - Tsuna bobbed his head into a desperate nod. Bianchi chuckled and waded through his mess. She picked up a few things and handed them over. "This should be good on you," she said.

"You sure?" he asked her unsurely but accepted it nevertheless.

"Mia likes you for who you are. She won't care what you look like."

"I just wanted to look… I don't know… cool for her." He flushed but Bianchi didn't laugh at him.

"It's good that you worry about that. You'll make a fine man one day." He turned redder under her praise. "But I think this would suffice. It's Mia after all. Your date might turn out different from what you expect."

Well she had a point. Mia's interests often lead her to places that most Japanese girls wouldn't go to on dates. He didn't even know where they were going today. "Alright. Thanks Bianchi." He hurriedly went on to change. Bianchi was good at finding him something decent to wear. He should consider a change of wardrobe soon. When he stepped out of his room he was sporting a pair of navy blue shorts, a white shirt with a black stripe across it and an orange short-sleeved hoodie over it. He caught sight of the time and ran out the house.

Mia had been waiting for him at the bus stop in nothing but a short denim jumper, a white shirt and flip flops. Her hair was down but her bangs were clipped aside. His eyes trailed down to her arm where she had a fresh set of bandages on. His smile faltered at the sight of it but he quickly righted himself. She grinned when she saw him. "So where are we going?" he asked her.

"To the amusement park!" she exclaimed. He expected something a bit different than that but he stopped that train of thought when he noticed the glint in her eye. He had a bad feeling about this… She noticed his expression. "I bet you're thinking right - 'The amusement park? Whaaaat?'." Tsuna ducked his head sheepishly.

Her smile turned wry. "Can't you tell?"

He frowned. "Tell what?"

"That there are people following us." She snorted. "Oh don't worry. It's just Hayato and the others."

"What?!" Not that he knew about it, he could sense four people hiding around the corner.

She shushed him. "Shhh! Don't try and give us away!" In a whisper, she added, "Listen, I know it's a bit disappointing for our first date but it really can't be helped."

"I'm not disappointed, just surprised," he replied. "Anywhere is good as long as I'm with you."

Her cheeks turned pink and her eyes turned to the sidewalk. "W-Well… uh… yeah… anyways!" she cleared her throat. "I picked the amusement park because I thought it would be easier to ignore them what with the large space and the people. Also…" She leaned closely to him, her hot breath tickling his ear. "The next time we go out I'll make sure they won't find us."

It was an innocent statement but it didn't stop him from thinking more and he flushed at the things that came into mind. He looked away, his ears warm.

"Bus is here!" Mia announced cheerily, not noticing him. Taking his hand, they entered the bus.

They arrived at the park and Tsuna regained his enthusiasm. Mia was right, with this many people here it shouldn't be too hard to forget about them. They jovially headed to an ice cream stand, talking about a game that Tsuna was egging her on to play. When it was their turn at last, Tsuna turned to order and stared at the bizarre appearance of the vendor.

He had a large afro, black-tinted sunglasses and a curly mustache. He and Mia looked at each other with raised brows.

"What would you like Boss - I mean - sir?"

Tsuna wanted to sigh in exasperation. Mia looked like she was trying hard not to face palm.

"I'll have a - "

"Enjoy our limited free Triple layered ice cream sundae with nuts and chocolate syrup with fudge!" Hayato boomed.

"Um…"

"Free for couples!"

"Wait a minute - "

"A couple I see!" Hayato peered at them with his sunglasses. "We have a winner! Here!"

Suddenly finding his hands full with the cold treat, he stared at the large almost unhealthy amount given to them. "Th-This is too much…"

"Thank you!" Mia said loudly and steered him by the shoulders away. A massive argument broke out behind them as Hayato engaged with another couple in a shouting match. They only ate a bit before ruefully throwing it away. It was too sweet for them.

"Hey, wanna play a game?" Mia suggested.

He thought about winning her a prize. If he did that Mia will praise him for his amazing ability and instantly brightened up. "Yeah! Let's do that!"

They went to a stand and Tsuna paid for three balls. Knock down a tower of flimsy cans? Ha! Easy peasy! He grinned at her and she smiled sweetly back at him, fueling his desire to impress her. His ball sailed in the air to its mark. He knew he could hit it but his ball flailed in the air and dropped. He nervously glanced at Mia. She was still smiling at him and he sighed in relief. Maybe he didn't put enough force behind it. Adapting the stance that Takeshi often used for baseball, he pulled his arm back and flung the ball, surprising the vendor. It flailed a bit again, spinning wildly but hit its mark and hit the can. The cans did not budge for even an inch even when the ball hit it. He knew the vendor rigged the game. That was common knowledge but this was ridiculous! Frustrated, he picked his last ball up and was about to throw it when it unintentionally slipped through his hand.

Something hurled past him and his embarrassing hand with unimaginable speed like a miniature comet towards the small tower of cans when it ricocheted loudly and hit him squarely in the face.

Lying flat on the ground, he could hear Hayato screaming at Takeshi.

"What the hell baseball nut?!"

"I'm sorry!"

Mia discreetly took him somewhere else, away from the growing crowd that had seen what happened to him. She led him to a shooting range. Mia grinned. "My turn," she said and was handed a pellet pistol gun. She took a stance: legs planted firmly wide, arms held out, hands on the gun, her thumbs on one side and her index finger on the trigger. She took a moment to aim.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Several small toys topped on the shelf fell one after another as she shot with almost perfect accuracy. His jaw dropped. Grinning, the vendor handed her her chosen prize which she gave to him. It was a stuffed Magikarp. Really? Magikarp? She kissed his cheek at the look on his face.

He really wanted to win her something so he went ring tossing. He was focused fiercely on hit target, the ring in his tense hand. He was going to get that cute yellow teddy bear no matter what. At the flick of his wrist he got one ring… yes! He cheered mentally in his mind before tossing again. It missed. No! He tossed again and again and again. All misses. He'll never get that bear now! He was startled when Mia's hand touched his.

She stood close to him, their noses almost touching. "Don't worry too much about it. Hold your breath while throwing it - it stabilizes your aim," she said. Too dumb to reply at her, he nodded and preceded to calming his heart down, knowing full well he was probably redder than a tomato. Once again, Mia didn't notice how much she was affecting him and stepped back to give him space. Keeping her advice in mind he aimed carefully and before tossing, he held his breath.

His ring landed where he wanted it to be and he jumped up, happy that he got it. Mia clapped for him but his happiness faded a bit. He wasn't able to get the teddy bear but he managed to get a puffball for a cell phone keychain. Compared to what Mia got him, it wasn't that good.

Before he could pocket it, Mia snatched it out from his palm. "Hey wait - !" he protested.

Mia held it away from him. "No way. This is too cute for you," she teased.

"Just give it back Mia!"

Her expression fell. "Are you giving it to someone else?" she asked in disappointment.

Oh hell. "No!" he said a little too loudly. Taken aback, she blinked at him. He rubbed his neck and started staring at the ground. "I… I wanted it to be for you but… it wasn't good enough."

"That's ridiculous," Mia said and he looked up. "I don't need anything fancy and you really didn't need to give me anything. This date is enough for me."

Dammit she was getting the good lines that every guy should be saying. "Still…"

"Can I have it?" she suddenly asked him. She held up the cell phone keychain. "I really want it."

Mia rarely says anything that she wants. Knowing that, how could he refuse her? If she probably wanted an Audi he'd probably abuse his position as the Tenth Boss to get it… that being said she'd probably kill him if he did that.

"Alright." He closed her hand around it with his own. "Just don't whine about it when you see something better."

She beamed.

Afterwards, they walked around the park, trying to decide where to go next when they suddenly spotted a full-bodied costume of a Namehage that was following them inconspicuously from behind when a bunch of children mobbed it. Tsuna was slowly losing his mind. Was everyone here?

"They're not even trying," Mia said flatly.

Haru's obvious disguise was rendered useless when one of the children fiercely tackled her from behind. The tail came off and a young boy took it as a spoil of war.

"That's a very bad child! I will eat you!" Haru shouted as she chased after the child for her tail.

Tsuna apologized silently in his mind but they were ruining their date and it was really starting to get on his nerves. Right now, he wanted to be really far away from them. A couple passed them by.

"I don't want to go to the Haunted House! Its too scary!" The woman said.

"It will be alright," the man assured her. "I'll protect you."

"Oh honey!" The woman gushed and clutched tighter to her partner. The couple then went away, a thick aura of lovey-doviness surrounding them.

A haunted house huh… He could just imagine it: they would be walking in the dark when a terrifying mannequin jumps out of nowhere. Mia would super glue herself to him, frightened like a rabbit and he would be there to comfort her. They would look into each other's faces, noses almost touching . He would see the small crystal tears in her eyes and he would lean down and…

"I'm actually a lesbian."

Tsuna's head whipped so fast he thought he would have broken his neck. "What?!" he gasped. He stared at her as if she had might as well proclaimed she was a unicorn.

She rolled her eyes. "Of for the love of - where the hell has your head been drifting off to? I've been trying to get your attention!"

He blinked dumbly at her. "So you're not a lesbian?"

"No!" she exclaimed. Incredibly relieved, he nervously laughed.

"Haha of course you weren't…" he coughed awkwardly. "So uh, what was it again?"

"Any idea where we should go next?"

"Haunted House!" he immediately replied.

The guy should always look out for his girl, comfort her in her time of need and give her a sense of security. He wanted to do that but why did this suddenly happened?! The moment they stepped foot inside the haunted house, Mia hadn't once held his hand or anything! In fact, the blonde didn't even appear remotely scared!

"H-Hey Mia… isn't this scary?" he asked her over the sound of moaning and screaming.

Mia kept walking, lost in thought. A woman shrieked behind them and shivers went up the back of his neck. He came closer to her. It wasn't supposed to be this way! He cried silently in his mind. Something jumped out suddenly beside him and he freaked, flinging himself at Mia. There was a giggle. He realized he had thrown himself around her waist.

"Too scary for you Tsuna?" she teased him. He quickly let go of her, embarrassment rolling off of him in waves. What was he thinking? He berated himself. He knew he got scared easily by things like this but he had to get a big fat head didn't he? This was embarrassing - no - mortifying. How on earth was he going to regain his dignity as a man back?

So he did the only thing he could do. He sulked. "I guess this stuff doesn't bother you huh?" He may have sounded more than a little sour. She sighed.

"No, not really," she admitted. "It's just… there's really nothing to be afraid of. It's just a load of petty stuff." To make her point, another mechanical scarer jumped out right next to her but she didn't even budge. "They're fake hence they don't really pose a real threat."

He stared at her. "Your logic's really something…"

Sometimes he forgot how downright serious Mia could be, joking aside. Suddenly a shadow crept behind her and laid a hand on her shoulder. Onii-san's face suddenly loomed from out of the darkness, his face set in a frightening scowl reminiscent when the boxer scared Lambo into tears. Tsuna was too shocked to react. Then the boxer spoke lowly - lower than either of them could have ever imagined from the loud and obnoxious Sasagawa Ryohei - and in rumbling tones said, "You should be extremely scared."

Mia went bug eyed before slugging the boxer extremely hard. Onii-san spun, crashed against the wall and slid down, unconscious.

"The hell did you do that for?!" Tsuna silently screamed at her, crazed that she might have potentially knocked his Guardian into a coma.

Mia held her hand and was breathing heavily. She was as frightened as he was at what she had done. "I-I didn't mean to! It was a reflex! Senpai scared me!"

He ogled at her. "Scared you?"

They stared at each other.

"Let's just leave."

"Yeah," she agreed and together they left the Haunted House as if they were fleeing from murder. Tsuna couldn't imagine this date getting worse. As soon as they were out and had finally calmed down, the others started following them, their efforts becoming more obvious one after the other. Unable to take it anymore he took up Mia's suggestion of shaking them off on some crazy rides. He stupidly agreed. He was soooo going to regret this…

An hour later he was ready to drop dead. He lay there on the bench, spazzing out underneath the setting sun, his soul preparing to depart the world of the living.

They had gone on four heart-stopping, gut-wrenching rides and on four separate occasions he almost puked himself to death. They managed to shake them all off but he was so done. Nothing in this world would convince him to move his ass off this bench.

He heard something clatter in front of him and he slowly raised his head when Mia cursed. She had dropped her phone and was leaning over to pick it up, unknowingly giving him full view of her backside, her shorts hugging her adorable rump and thighs. He snapped into a proper sitting position suddenly, his previous ailments banished and his mind cleared. Instead his body felt hot all over, filling him with renewed vigor. His soul had yet to experience the wonders of life - it wasn't leaving yet!

"Man, if I break another phone, I don't think Pa will buy me another one." She noticed him. "You feeling alright?" She approached him, worried. "You were pretty out of it earlier. Sorry."

He waved her worries away. "I'm okay." He meant it. A hundred-thousand percent he meant it.

"You sure?" she asked him. "I feel like we've been doing nothing but running from everyone."

He pulled her to sit beside him. "This date really didn't turn out the way I wanted to but it was fun you know? I'm gonna remember you punching Onii-san for years to come."

She blushed and looked away. She rubbed her sore hand. Well she did just give the boxer an impressive KO punch. He took her hand and started kneading it gently. She placed her head on his shoulder and they rested there, just content with being with each other… until Future Lambo shot pass them, followed by a murderous Bianchi carrying a large bowl of poison cooking some of which sloshed out of its container and splattered against Mia's clothes.

"That's it!" Mia exploded.

"Uh…" Tsuna's jaw went slack. "Mia… your clothes…" he pointed out weakly.

"My clothes?" she looked down on herself. Where Bianchi's poison cooking had hit was burning holes in her jumper and through her shirt. Tsuna caught a glimpse of kitten patterns through the holes before she covered them with her hands. "I'm going to kill them," she growled. Remembering that they were still in a public area, he hastily put his jacket over her.

"L-Let's not get over ourselves here…" he tried to placate her as she zipped his jacket up. "Besides… what were you even planning on doing?" he asked her.

"Cement their feet in blocks and throw them overnight in a river during the winter."

"Mia!" He was scandalized.

"I was just joking." That was a joke? Hard to believe. She took out her phone and started calling someone. "Hi Chrome!" Hearing the name of his Mist Guardian, a grin tugged itself on his lips. He knew where it was going and he wholeheartedly supported it.

Meanwhile the group of friends that had been following them was also resting from the draining rides Mia had all put them through. All of them we're slumped against one thing or another and Ryohei was holding an ice pack to his face, grimacing.

"Remind me why we're here again Octopus-head?"

Hayato groaned but tiredly answered, "We're here to protect the Tenth and the Lady in case they're attacked."

"Somehow I feel like we're not really needed," Takeshi said, still glum that he knocked Tsuna down on the ground.

"Nonsense!" Hayato sprang up. "It's our duty as Guardians to protect the Boss and his Lady!"

"Sawada and Matteis are extremely strong and capable!" Ryohei leaned extremely close to Hayato. "You see this Octopus-head?" He jabbed a finger at his swollen jaw. "Do you really think they need us?!"

"Too close you idiot!" Hayato shoved the boxer's face away from him. "And fine, if you all want to go home then go! But I - " he whipped out a very expensive DSLR camera. "Am going to record this momentous occasion for the next generation!"

"Next generation!?" both jocks exclaimed.

Hayato tied his hair back and put on a pair of black-tinted sunglasses. "If you idiots can understand then stay out of my way." The two boys tackled him.

"That's a little too much don't you think?"

"It's extremely creepy!"

Hayato struggled against them. "What's so creepy about taking a picture?! One day the Tenth and the Lady will face through hardship! A single picture of the past can surely bring a smile to them when that time comes!"

Their grips slackened and Ryohei's eyes were swirling with inspiration. They looked to him with awe.

"That's actually pretty cool of you to do Hayato."

"But still extremely creepy!"

"Don't get too familiar with me Baseball-nut! And leave if it's too creepy!" he barked at the both of them, his face flushed.

"Oh! Isn't that Sawada and Matteis?!" Ryohei pointed behind Hayato.

"Woah… that's a little bold ain't it?" Takeshi commented, a little uncomfortable. Ways away, Mia and Tsuna were flirting hard in broad daylight, the words tumbling out of their mouths were more than a little embarrassing and the way they were touching each other…

"A-As expected of the Tenth…"

"S-Should we follow them?"

The couple headed towards the Tunnel of Love, planning on doing god-knows-what. The three looked to each other with red faces. All they needed was one picture. That was it. But boys being boys, they couldn't help but let their imaginations run wild especially as they listened closely to Tsuna's provocative insinuations. They knew their friend to be a kind, chivalrous and caring person but now it seems they were about to witness another, more adult side to Sawada Tsunayoshi.

The only thing they had to worry about was whether they could handle it or not.

"I-Is this really alright?" Tsuna whispered to Mia. They were watching the trio follow their fake-selves behind a couple of bushes. Tsuna was red. Like really red.

"Course it is," Mia said but she was red too. "But of all couples did it have to be them Chrome?" She addressed the other young girl with them.

"They were the closest I could have worked with." Chrome answered, frowning. "Is it bothering you too much? Mia? Boss?"

"N-No! Really! You drew them away like we asked you to!" Tsuna quickly said. "I-It's just…" What would they think of him now? He had secret fantasies but this was crazy! He knew he was a pervert but he wasn't that perverted. What he didn't realize was that it was only because Reborn hadn't laid waste to his innocent mind yet that such things seem too brazen to him.

Mia however, was a bit more mature. "He's right. Thanks a lot Chrome and I'm sorry I had to drag you into this - I'll give you a bento when this is over."

The girl beamed and with a single nod, she casted an illusion over herself and followed the rest in order to sustain her illusion of them. They watched her go before heading to their last ride of the day: the Ferris wheel. Once again, it wasn't the most original idea but it truly was a fitting end to their date. Night had already fallen and the stars had come out to play. As their car slowly climbed up, Tsuna spent his time watching Mia from the other side.

She was staring at the view wistfully. Even before he knew he liked her, he always enjoyed watching her expressions.

"I'm really jealous of you ya know," she suddenly spoke up.

"Me? Of what?" He couldn't imagine anything about him to be jealous about.

She looked away from the window. "You can fly. You realize how awesome that is?"

Tsuna blinked. Flying? With everything going on, he hadn't thought much of his powers. "It's nothing to be shiny-eyed about."

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "But have you ever taken in the view before? You should, you know. It's beautiful." He looked outside. From their point, the view was certainly amazing. The amusement park gave off a bright glow in contrast to its dark surroundings like a star. It was bright and spectacular. The mountains were silent, the town was dim in the distance and the stars were not that different from any other night. It was peaceful but it wasn't beautiful. It wouldn't be any different if he flew to this height only that he would be freezing cold.

If anything was beautiful to him it was the girl sitting in front of him.

He looked back at her. "I think I'm good looking at what I'm seeing now." She blushed and muttered something under her breath. "What was that?" he leaned closely to her, curious.

"It's nothing."

Instead of pushing her for answers he took her bandaged arm and traced the gauzes lightly with the tips of his fingers. Xanxus had said he wanted to brand him like a pig the same way Mia had been. He would be crazy to not be mad about it because he really, really was. He felt her soft lips press against his brow.

"You're frowning," she murmured. "Don't be upset about it."

"If you're not upset about it then I will be," he stubbornly declared. He didn't look at her, keeping his eyes on her injury, trying not to imagine what it looked like under the gauze and failing.

He felt her smile. "It's not as bad as you think. Check it out if you want." He raised his head. She was smiling like she had some sort of surprise for him. He frowned. He always hated seeing bruises or any injury on her skin. A burn would most likely stay with you for the rest of your life. He didn't understand why she was okay keeping such a memento from her attacker.

Mia began to undo her bandaging. His eyes steadily grew rounder until the last wrap had been undone. In place of where he expected mottled, disfigured skin, was instead a work of art. Pink skin in contrast to her usual color coiled and curled around her wrist as if Xanxus had marked her with a burning vine.

"I know right? Caught me completely off guard when I saw it too," she said when she saw his expression. "It wasn't supposed to look like this." She twisted her wrist. It went all around it.

"What do you mean?" he asked her.

"When Bianchi cleaned it, it was a perfect imprint of Xanxus' hand." She held a finger up at his enraged expression and silently communicated with him to let her finish. Grudgingly, he let her. "It probably would have looked like it, had it healed, but I did something." Brows furrowing, he began to listen to her more closely as her eyes took on a sharp tint.

"In a way, this injury caused me a different ailment. I guess you could say I was poisoned," she explained. "Ian told me that every person, every living thing has some sort of Flame in them but few are able to utilize it - people like you. But for someone like me who can't use it like you are vulnerable in a lot of ways. My Flames got poisoned. It wouldn't heal and I got worse."

"The only way for my arm to heal properly was that I had to expel whatever it is that was poisoning me. Ian taught me how to use my own Flames, I managed to do it, and I suppose this is the result because of it." Tsuna tentatively traced the edges of her burns with his fingers and she giggled. "That tickles Tsuna!" she squealed lightly.

"So this is what you meant when he 'saved your life'?" he asked her. Mia nodded. He huffed. It still didn't make him like that illusionist ass. But going back to her burns, it really is pretty. This had been done by Mia's Flames? "But wait, how did it heal so fast?"

Mia grinned. "Don't tell Reborn I told you but he healed it. Apparently there are several other types of Flames out there with different effects although I don't know much."

He gaped at her. "Reborn heals? That's ironic." Because the truth was, his tutor was a sadist.

"Be nice," she scolded him but she was smiling. "It probably would have stayed painful for months if he didn't do it."

"Well… I guess Reborn can be nice sometimes," Tsuna grumbled.

Her smile faded and she pulled her hand back from him. "Tsuna… about Reborn… I have to tell you something."

Something about his tutor? Mia looked so serious it just had to be something big. Tsuna gulped and leaned in anticipation. She turned her head away and seemed to weigh her words.

"This isn't easy to say but… I'm thinking about joining the Order."

"What?!" He exploded, jumping to his feet and rocking their cart violently. Tsuna fell back on his seat hard and Mia went sideways. Well, he wasn't expecting that. As if things couldn't get worse, a small explosion happened at the Tunnel of Love. They got up and quickly scrambled to the windows. The ride had caught on fire.

A cackle of lightning pierced the skies when it was obviously clear earlier. A blinding flash of light descended down from the skies, striking a small building and everything went dark. Their cart lurched to a stop just like every ride out there. Tsuna and Mia had fallen on top of each other.

"What did they do?" Tsuna growled from underneath Mia. Mia moved and he was able to sit up.

"They probably hit the operation center and caused a blackout." Mia rubbed her elbow. "Uh… we'll probably be here for a while."

Tsuna hadn't forgotten. Something told him that she was hoping she would finish this quickly so that she could run as soon as he completely lost his marbles. He wasn't mad but that didn't mean he was seriously annoyed. "The Order Mia? I thought you were part of the Vongola?" he feigned in mock hurt.

"I am!" she fiercely exclaimed. Tsuna was taken aback. She clapped her hands to her mouth. "W-Well not the Vongola but your Vongola and I guess that means I'm loyal to you…. And uh… dovrei stare zitto." She trailed off into a groan ("I should shut up.").

Her sudden confession was touching, as much as it embarrassed him. "I don't see how this relates to Reborn though."

"I... want to break his curse," she said firmly.

"Break... his curse?"

She rolled her eyes. "Come on Tsuna, you can't seriously believe he was born that way did you? His mannerisms, his vernacualr and even his tastes are beyond that of an infant!"

He blankly stared back at her. "Who says 'vernacular' any more?" He assumed Reborn really had crawled from the pits of hell looking like a baby.

Mia ran her hands down her face, exasperated. "Listen, we've heard about this before - the Arcobaleno. Mammon mentioned that at least he was doing something about the 'curse' instead of waiting around like Reborn and Colonello. Also... Reborn told me that I should join."

"Reborn did?" Tsuna said in surprise.

She nodded. Her lips tugged down to a small frown. "He's hiding it but he really wants to be free from his 'curse' and I... I just couldn't not consider it."

"But does it have to be you?" It came out a little wrong and Mia slightly glared at him.

"I may not be efficient for combat and I have no idea why the Order thinks I'm useful but they're interested in me. This is just a 'what if' anyways so I'm asking you, what do you think?"

He wanted her to have no part in such a shady organization - though the Vongola weren't that much different - but with the Vongola at least she had friends! Friends who would look out for her. At the Order there was only Ian and he would probably stab her in the back if given the opportunity. "But why join the Order anyways?" he muttered in little defiance.

"Because the Order might just have the answer to the curse." She looked so sure of herself but he didn't share in her confidence. That may be well and true but there was much of a chance that they wouldn't have it. "Come on Tsuna," she pleaded. "Don't you want to help Reborn?" He felt her touch his knee and heat spread across his face like wildfire. Mia had crawled in between his legs, effectively pinning him to the seat of the cart like a wildcat. Her blue eyes were boring down on him, expectantly.

He didn't know whether he should feel scared, embarrassed or aroused. Maybe all three.

"E-Even if he is the world's biggest j-j-jerk I still want to h-help him," he stuttered out. It wasn't fair! His mind cried out. She was using her feminine wiles to get him to agree with her and it was slowly working!

Her eyes brightened and she leaned even closer, their noses touching. She looked unsure. "You won't be angry about it?"

She smelled really nice and her small mouth looked ever so appealing. He was slowly losing his ability to think. With a low growl, he grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her around just so that he could hug her from behind. How was he supposed to think in a situation like that? He buried his face in between her shoulder blades and she squeaked.

"You were trying to trick me," he said darkly.

"No I wasn't!" she tried to deny. Lie, he could tell. "I had no intention of joining but I couldn't leave Reborn like this - not after everything he's done for us." Truth. He didn't want her to ever be affiliated with the Order but the chance of a finding an answer to his tutor's plight was tempting. Mia was right that they owed a lot to the hitman but that didn't mean he wasn't worried.

He tightened his hold around her waist and pulled her flushed against him. "I'll think about it," he promised her closely to her ear.

"D-Did you really have to do that?" She shuddered, though not unpleasant. She relaxed in his grip. He considered her proposal and that's what mattered. Truthfully he wanted to say no but she came to him honestly. It was the least he could have done for the trust she put in him.

"We haven't done anything other than run and hide the whole day. This was supposed to be a date you know," he said, a bit sulkily.

She slightly tensed. "Then why don't you do something about it?" she boldly challenged him in a breathless whisper. He couldn't help but smile.

Leaning down he nibbled her earlobe and she squeaked, breaking from his hold. She clapped a hand to her ear, blushing and he merely grinned at her. He licked his lips and her blush went darker. "I thought I had to do something about it?" He raised a brow at her.

"Y-You just surprised me that's all." She sat herself close, facing him. "W-Well aren't you going to move?"

He laughed a little bit. "We're going to kiss Mia, not fight each other to the death." But he reached out nevertheless. Running his thumb against her cheek, her eyes fell to a close and she nuzzled his hand. Smiling fondly, he leaned to kiss both her eyes, her forehead and slid down to kiss the tip of her nose. She giggled and he grinned.

He brushed their lips together and he wondered fleetingly, how they managed to get to this point where most of his fantasies were coming true. He didn't have time to think about it as Mia had grown impatient and pressed her soft lips against his. His fingers wounded in her hair and he tugged on it lightly. A sweet sound escaped her parted lips and a shiver rolled down his spine when he heard it. Heart racing, he daringly delved deeply into her warm mouth. They had kissed before but it seems it wasn't always enough and it always got better. When their tongues met, a spark flared to life inside him, filling him with heat that only Mia seemed to incite. His hand intertwined firmly with hers. As their kiss became deeper, her grip tightened and she made that lovely sound again.

But they couldn't keep it up forever. With a heavy sigh, they broke apart, panting. Mia's face was flushed and so was his. He planted their foreheads together and for a while, they were good with just listening to each other's breaths.

"Tsuna?"

"Hmn?" he sighed, satisfied.

"How long do you think we're going to be here?"

"It won't be long now but we'll still be here for a while." His eyes lazily opened. "Until then, wanna practice?"

She grinned impishly at him. "That was just 'practice' huh?"

Just as they were coming together for another round, the ride suddenly shuddered to life and the lights flickered back on. Well, that didn't really stop them.

Q A time!

Did you base Mia off of Elena?

No. Mia is actually inspired by my favorite fictional blondes which is Skyward Sword Zelda and Annabeth Chase from the Percy Jackson series with a sprinkle of Hermoine Granger from Harry Potter. I never thought about Elena while writing Mia. I didn't want an overly-dependent female lead. I wanted a strong-willed girl who can stand up on her own but still human enough not to be considered Mary Sue. Mia being blonde also had nothing to do with Elena - I made her blonde because I wanted to poke fun at the 'blonde girls are dumb' trope when Mia is obviously smart.

Up until what arc are you going to adapt?

Readers always ask this but I'll be writing until the SHIMON ARC.

Will Sunset Hue end there?

No. Mia and Tsuna's story are far from over there. I'm planning on sending them to University and how they will be settling down into their adult lives and yes, this does include a next gen.

To Dear Anonymous Readers:

Yumi014 RJ

Oh thanks so much for the song recommendations guys, they're lovely :) Both of your songs definitely went into my romance playlist. Already I'm inspired to write the next chapter. Also, I love it how you guys use "TsunaMi" as their ship name. I swear, I giggle every time I see readers use it.